Geothermal system for heating a home or building

ABSTRACT

A heating system for a building or structure features one or more baseboards configured to radiate heat; and a geothermal system configured to receive fluid from the one or more baseboards, to pump the fluid below the ground level at a depth necessary to find a predetermined substantially constant temperature so as to condense the fluid into a condensed fluid, and to provide pumped, compressed and condensed fluid to the one or more baseboards for heating the building or structure. The geothermal system comprises a compressor and pump is configured to be placed in a line to maintain the fluid at a substantially constant high pressure, including being placed to compress and pump the fluid from the one or more baseboards, and piping arranged below the ground level at a depth necessary to find a constant temperature.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit to provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/096,431, filed 12 Sep. 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Use

This invention relates to a system for a home, building or other suitable structure; and more particularly relates to a heating system for such a home, building or other suitable structure using geothermal technology.

2. Description of Related Art

In known buildings and structures, a known heating system may take the form of a hot water, baseboard heating system circulating hot water through baseboards which is heated by a gas/oil boiler. The current source of heat is a fossil fuel boiler.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a new and unique system that will change the boiler being used in the prior art and replace it with a geothermal system, as shown and described herein. The geothermal system may include coils arranged in holes drilled in the earth to a depth necessary to find a substantially constant temperature of approximately 60 degrees. For example, the holes may have to be drilled to about 50 feet. The geothermal system may also include a compressor and pump placed in the line as shown to maintain a substantially constant high pressure. An inert refrigerant gas may be used to fill the entire system. In operation, the baseboards in the building radiation system can act as an evaporator, and the coils placed in the holes in the earth can act as a condenser. In essence, the system can act like a giant heat pump using what is existing as part of the overall system. No conversion will be necessary. The only significant energy the system will use will be the electric necessary to run the compressor/pump. This arrangement should thereby reduce the energy use by about 95%. It should also reduce the use of fossil fuels by the substantially same percent, thereby reducing pollution.

The new home or building heating system is based on the concept of geothermal power which is energy generated by heat stored beneath the Earth's surface, or the collection of absorbed heat derived from underground in the atmosphere and oceans. “Geothermal” can generally refer to any heat contained in the ground, including the generation of power from naturally occurring extraordinary sources of (relatively low grade) underground heat.

Geothermal energy offers a number of advantages over traditional fossil fuel based sources, primarily that the heat source requires no purchase of fuel. From an environmental standpoint, emissions of undesirable substances are small. It is also nearly sustainable because the heat extraction is small compared to the size of the heat reservoir, which may also receive some heat replenishment from greater depths. In addition, geothermal power plants are unaffected by changing weather conditions. Geothermal power plants work continuously, day and night, making them base load power plants. From an economic view, geothermal energy is extremely price competitive in some areas and reduces reliance on fossil fuels and their inherent price unpredictability. It also offers a degree of scalability: a large geothermal plant can power entire cities while smaller power plants can supply more remote sites such as rural villages.

According to some embodiments, the present invention may take the form of a heating system for a building or structure that features one or more baseboards configured to radiate heat in the building or structure in combination with a geothermal system configured to receive fluid from the one or more baseboards, to pump the fluid below the ground level at a depth necessary to find a predetermined substantially constant temperature so as to condense the fluid into a condensed fluid, and to provide pumped, compressed and condensed fluid to the one or more baseboards for heating the building or structure. The geothermal system may include a compressor and pump that is configured to be placed in a line to maintain the fluid at a substantially constant high pressure, including being placed to compress and pump the fluid from the one or more baseboards and piping arranged below the ground level at the depth necessary to find the predetermined substantially constant temperature.

Although the new system is shown and described by way of example as a system for heating a home, building or other suitable structure, the scope of the invention is also intended to include suitably adapting the system for cooling a home, building or other suitable structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a heating system according to some embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a heating system generally indicated as 10 for a building or structure generally indicated as 12 according to some embodiments of the present invention, featuring one or more baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d in combination with a geothermal system generally indicated as 16. The building or structure may include a residential home, a commercial building, high rise buildings or structures, as well as any other building or structure either now known or later developed in the future. The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to the type or kind of building or structure that the present invention is implemented.

The one or more baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d are configured to radiate heat. Each baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d is arranged on a respective floor 12 a, 12 b, 12 c, 12 d of the building 12. By way of example, the present invention is describe with one baseboard per floor, although the scope of the invention is not intended to the number of baseboards per floor or in the building as a whole. As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, baseboards like elements 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d are known in the art to implement the aforementioned functionality, and the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular type or kind thereof either now known or later developed in the future. The scope of the invention is also intended to include implementing the same using pre-existing baseboards already in a building or structure such as 12, as well as implementing the same using new baseboards installed in a building or structure. As shown, the baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d are coupled together in series with suitable piping lines 18 a, 18 b, 18 c, 18 d from floor-to-floor, and baseboards 14 a and 14 d are also coupled to the geothermal system 16 via piping lines 18 a and 18 e. The scope of the invention is also intended to include the baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d being coupled to the geothermal system 16 using other couple techniques, including coupling baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d to the geothermal system 16 in parallel, e.g. for use in a building or structure having zoned heating.

The geothermal system 16 is configured to receive fluid from the one or more baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d, to pump the fluid below the ground level at a depth necessary to find a predetermined substantially constant temperature so as to condense the fluid into a condensed fluid, and to provide the condensed fluid to the one or more baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d for heating the building or structure. As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, the term “fluid” as used herein may be understood to mean and take the form of a continuous amorphous substance, and may comprise a subset of states of matter, including, for example, liquid, gas, plasma or a combination thereof. In particular, the geothermal system 16 includes coils 20 arranged in holes generally indicated as 21 drilled in the earth E to the depth necessary to find the substantially constant temperature of, e.g. approximately 60 degrees. The coils 20 may take the form of, e.g., copper tubing or freezer coils, and may also include fins for improving the temperature transfer between the fluid in the coils and the surrounding earth in which the coils are placed. For example, the holes 21 may have to be drilled to about 50 feet to achieve this substantially constant temperature, although other depths may be used depending on where the present invention is being implemented. The geothermal system 16 also includes a compressor and pump 22 configured and placed in the piping line 18 d as shown to maintain a constant high fluid pressure in the heating system 10. The fluid may take the form of an inert refrigerant gas, e.g. R12, or R134A, or some other suitable refrigerant either now known or later developed in the future, that may be used to fill the entire system 10. In operation, the one or more baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d that form part of the overall building radiation system will act as an evaporator in the geothermal system 16, and the coils 20 configured and placed in the holes 21 in the earth E will act as a condenser in the geothermal system 16. In essence, the heating system 10 will act like a giant heat pump using what is existing as part of the overall system. No conversion will be necessary. The only energy the heating system 10 will use will be the electric necessary to run the compressor/pump 20. This arrangement should thereby reduce the energy use by about 95%. It will also reduce the use of fossil fuels by that same percent, thereby reducing pollution.

By way of example, in operation the pump and compressor 22 receives the condensed fluid having a temperature T1 of about 60° F. from the underground coils 20 along line 18 f, and provides along line 18 a pumped and compressed fluid having a higher temperature T2, e.g. in a range of about 120°-180° F., to a first baseboard 14 a. As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, the pump and compressor 22 pressurizes the condensed fluid so as to substantially increase its temperature (e.g. 2×-3×). The first baseboard 14 a receives the pumped and compressed fluid having the higher temperature, radiates heat into the building or structure, and the pumped and compressed fluid is then provided to the next baseboard 14 b. After the pumped and compressed fluid is provided in series to baseboard 14 b, to baseboard 14 c, then to baseboard 14 d, it is pumped from the baseboard 14 d back to the underground coils 20 and recirculated again.

As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, in an embodiment in which the building or structure has zoned heating, the pump and compressor 22 may be configured to provide the pump and compressed fluid separately to one or more baseboards, e.g., in each of the separate heating zones. In such an embodiment, a heating zone may be configured with one or more of the baseboards as shown.

As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, although the present invention is described in relation to the substantially constant temperature of, e.g. approximately 60 degrees, the scope of the invention is intended to include other substantially constant temperatures that may depend on a particular application.

As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, coils like element 20 are known in the art to implement the aforementioned functionality, and the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular type or kind thereof either now known or later developed in the future.

As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, compressors and pumps like element 22 are known in the art to implement the aforementioned functionality, and the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular type or kind thereof either now known or later developed in the future.

Moreover, the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular substantially constant high pressure of the fluid being pumped in the overall system. As a person skilled in the art would appreciate the substantially constant high pressure of the fluid being pumped in the overall system will depend on a number of different parameters and dimensions related to the overall system, including the type or kind of fluid being pumped, the type or kind piping line being used, the type, or kind, or number of baseboards, and other factors related the overall building or structure.

As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, the heating system 10, the baseboards 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d, the coils 20, the compressor and pump 22 and the associated piping lines coupling the overall system together may include other features, parts and/or components, including a temperature control (e.g. a thermostat) and/or a pressure controller for controlling the operation of the system, that do not necessarily form part of the underlying invention, and thus are not described in detail herein. A tracer may also be added to the circulating fluid for finding leaks in the system if, or when, they develop.

THE SCOPE OF THE INVENTION

It should be understood that, unless stated otherwise herein, any of the features, characteristics, alternatives or modifications described regarding a particular embodiment herein may also be applied, used, or incorporated with any other embodiment described herein. Also, the drawings herein are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to exemplary embodiments thereof, the foregoing and various other additions and omissions may be made therein and thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 

1. A heating system for a building or structure comprising: one or more baseboards configured to radiate heat in the building or structure; and a geothermal system configured to receive fluid from the one or more baseboards, to pump the fluid below the ground level at a depth necessary to find a predetermined substantially constant temperature so as to condense the fluid into a condensed fluid, and to provide pumped, compressed and condensed fluid to the one or more baseboards for heating the building or structure.
 2. A heating system according to claim 1, wherein the geothermal system comprises a compressor and pump configured to be placed in a line to maintain the fluid at a substantially constant high pressure, including being placed to compress and pump the fluid from the one or more baseboards.
 3. A heating system according to claim 1, wherein the geothermal system comprises piping arranged below the ground level at the depth necessary to find the predetermined substantially constant temperature, including copper tubing.
 4. A heating system according to claim 3, wherein the constant temperature is approximately 60 degrees.
 5. A heating system according to claim 3, wherein the piping include coils placed in holes in the earth and configured to act as a condenser to condense the fluid into the condensed fluid.
 6. A heating system according to claim 1, wherein the fluid is an inert refrigerant gas that substantially fills the system.
 7. A heating system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more baseboards is configured to act as an evaporator.
 8. The heating system according to claim 1, wherein the system is configured to act as a heat pump using what is existing as part of the system.
 9. The heating system according to claim 1, wherein the geothermal system is retrofitted to one or more preexisting baseboards pre-existing in the building or structure.
 10. A heating system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more baseboards include a multiplicity of baseboards connected in parallel with one another.
 11. A heating system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more baseboards include a multiplicity of baseboards connected in series with one another.
 12. A heating system according to claim 1, wherein the condensed fluid has a condensed fluid temperature that is greater than the temperature of the fluid received from the one or more baseboards.
 13. A heating system a building or structure comprising: one or more baseboards configured to radiate heat in the building or structure; coils arranged below the ground level at a depth of about 50 feet necessary to find a constant temperature of about 60 degrees F.; and a geothermal system configured to receive an inert refrigerant gas having a temperature from the one or more baseboards, to pump the inert refrigerant gas with a compressor and pump at a substantially constant high pressure into the coils so as to condense the inert refrigerant gas into a condensed inert refrigerant gas, and to provide pumped, compressed and condensed inert refrigerant gas back to the one or more baseboards for heating the building or structure.
 14. A heating system according to claim 13, wherein the condensed fluid temperature is greater than the temperature of the inert refrigerant gas received from the one or more baseboards.
 15. A heating system according to claim 13, wherein the inert refrigerant gas fills the system.
 16. A heating system according to claim 13, wherein the coils are placed in holes in the earth and configured to act as a condenser.
 17. A system according to claim 13, wherein the one or more baseboards is configured to act as an evaporator.
 18. The heating system according to claim 1, wherein the system is configured to act as a heat pump using what is existing as part of the system. 